Meet the hideous creature that will live to the end of the world

As much as we love our planet, it's not guaranteed to be around forever, but this little guy will apparently out live us all. Angeli Kakade (@angelikakade) has the story.
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The world's most indestructible species, the tardigrade, an eight-legged micro-animal will survive until the Sun dies, according to a new Oxford University study.(Photo: Science Picture Co, via Getty Images)

Unlike us, tardigrades — the world's most indestructible species — will survive until the sun dies, according to a new Oxford University study released Friday.

Researchers found the tiny, eight-legged creatures, also known as water bears, will survive extinction from all astronomical catastrophes, including supernovas, gamma-ray bursts and large asteroid impacts.

The weird, water-dwelling critters should be around for at least the next 10 billion years — far longer than the human race.

"Without our technology protecting us, humans are a very sensitive species," said study co-author Rafael Alves Batista, a physicist at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. "Subtle changes in our environment impact us dramatically."

For example, the effects of gamma-ray bursts, from collapsing or colliding stars, on humans would be disastrous, as the eradication of the ozone layer would leave us exposed to deadly levels of radiation.

"There are many more resilient species on Earth. Life on this planet can continue long after humans are gone," Batista said.

Study co-author David Sloan, also of Oxford, said: "We found that although nearby supernovae or large asteroid impacts would be catastrophic for people, tardigrades could be unaffected."

"Therefore it seems that life, once it gets going, is hard to wipe out entirely," he said. "Huge numbers of species, or even entire genera may become extinct, but life as a whole will go on."

Tardigrades, which live in almost every region in the world, are the toughest, most resilient lifeform on Earth, able to survive for up to 30 years without food or water.

The critters, which are only about 1/100th of an inch long, are best viewed under a microscope.

"Tardigrades are as close to indestructible as it gets on Earth," Batista said. The creatures can endure wild temperature extremes, from 450 degrees below zero to 300 degrees above. They can also survive in the deep sea and even the frozen vacuum of space, the study said.

The research has implications for life elsewhere as well: "It is possible that there are other resilient species examples elsewhere in the universe," Batista said.

"In this context, there is a real case for looking for life on Mars and in other areas of the solar system in general," he added. "If tardigrades are Earth’s most resilient species, who knows what else is out there."